''The Black Spider'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in three acts by

Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parent ...

with a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by the composer. The work is loosely based on the 1842 novella '' Die schwarze Spinne'' by

Jeremias Gotthelf Albert Bitzius (4 October 179722 October 1854) was a Swiss novelist; best known by his pen name of Jeremias Gotthelf. Biography Bitzius was born at Murten, where his father was pastor. The Bitzius family had once belonged to the Bernese patrici ...

Background

''The Black Spider'' is an opera written for young people. It merges a folk story from Switzerland with a news report from Poland. It combines mystery, history, science, horror and comedy, and asks for skilled acting and singing. Norman Platt, director of

Kent Opera Kent Opera was a British opera company active between 1969 and 1989. It was based in Ashford and regular venues included The Orchard Theatre, Dartford; Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Kings Theatre, Southsea; Theatre ...

, described how his finance director Robin Jessel lent him a recording of '' King Harald's Saga'' by Weir; Platt was much impressed by its originality and having listened to more of her music, met with her, and commissioned a young people's opera with funds from the Arts Council.Platt N. ''Making Music''. Ashford, Pemble Productions, 2001; pp. 79–80. The work was first performed in the crypt of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

on 6 March 1985, with tenor Armistead Wilkinson and children of the Frank Hooker School; it lasts around one hour and a quarter. Welsh National Youth Opera performed the work at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff in May 2022.Rian Evans. The Black Spider – review. ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

'', August 2022, Vol.73 No.8, p1010-11. Weir describes the opera's tone as "somewhere between a

video nasty Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that w ...

and an

Ealing comedy The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...

".Programme note by Judith Weir (1984)
accessed 14 August 2015.

Synopsis

The opera exploits the collision of two plots and switches back and forth between a Polish legend of the Middle Ages, adapted from ''Die Schwarze Spinne'' by Jeremias Gotthelf, and a contemporary newspaper cutting about a curse on the opening of the

Tomb of Casimir IV Jagiellon The tomb of Casimir IV Jagiellon (), located in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, is a late 15th century masterpiece created in red marble by German sculptor Veit Stoss in the late Gothic style. Casimir IV, a King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania o ...

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Wawelska), formally titled the Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it is part of the ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. The earlier story tells of villagers oppressed by a wicked landlord, the Count Heinrich, and are given the task of carrying an entire beech forest to the mountain-top where he lives. A strange Green Man appears and says he will undertake the task provided the village girl, Christina, weds him. Christina is planning to marry Carl, but nevertheless agrees to the Green Man's bargain to spare the villagers from the Count's violence. The little green man fulfills his pledge as agreed, but Christina naturally breaks her word, wedding Carl. At the ceremony a spider crawls out from her hand, and this then proceeds to cause plague and pestilence in the village. The spider manages to block the exit to the valley, and it seems impossible for the villagers to escape their ravaged home. The spider even kills Count Heinrich by biting into his brain. Finally the disaster is stopped when Christina catches the spider in her cousin Caspar's guitar, and rushes to Kraków to bury it in the tomb of the recently deceased King Casimir IV. In the modern story, inspired by a 1983 news report in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', excavations are taking place at the tomb of Casimir IV, in Wawel Cathedral, Cracow. When the tomb is first opened, a small spider emerges. More and more archaeologists are affected by a deadly virus with no clue to why it is happening.

German version

Conductor and composer Benjamin Gordon was asked by the

Staatsoper Hamburg The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Genera ...

to revise and expand the opera for the 2008/2009 season. In order to differentiate from the English version, the German version is also known as ' (The Secret of the Black Spider). The orchestra was expanded to include full strings, augmenting the original clarinets, trumpets. The percussion parts were significantly changed, replacing many of the home-made instruments with traditional percussion instruments. The original guitar part was replaced with a new, prominent harp part. The vocal parts were transposed to allow the singers to use more of their range, and arias and ensembles were extended, using new material based on existing motives. The addition of several new orchestral interludes incorporating bits of the existing music make the work slightly longer (approx. 75 minutes). In comparison to the original orchestration, Gordon's orchestration is still tailored for young players, however for more advanced players than in the original as it is rhythmically more complex. In some places the music became more Transylvanian, in others more sinister, while the "spider" music enables the orchestra share the limelight with the singers. Judith Weir attended the premiere on February 8, 2009. The "Hamburg" Version has been subsequently performed in Bonn (2010), Regensburg (2011), Dortmund (2014) and Leipzig (2017, 2018 & 2022).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black spider Operas by Judith Weir English-language operas Operas 1985 operas Operas set in Poland Operas based on novels Adaptations of works by Jeremias Gotthelf